Chemical jobs fall in December

Total U.S. chemical employment fell in December from the previous month but was well ahead of December 2005, according to seasonally adjusted data from the Labor Department. The government data show the number of employees falling 1,400 from November but increasing by 11,300 from December the year before to 895,300. Meanwhile, the number of production workers rose by 1,200 month-to-month, and by 5,500 from the comparable month the year before, to 521,700. December's average weekly workhours of production were unchanged from November at 41.8. In December 2005, the average workweek was 42.5 hours.